Tuesday, November 27, 2012

I have been looking for military records on Fold3 and couldn't help
noticing your involvement there. Consequently, I have a question regarding
the Civil War Records. Specifically, I wish to locate a military record for
William Carter who served in Co. C, 8th
Missouri Infantry, CSA (Mitchell's). The index for this company,
however, begins at Cl-G! I do have a Company C roster which does, in fact,
begin with Adamson, Isaac. (I spot checked two other names from the list,
and they were included.) Putting in the soldier's name brings me negative
results.

Monday, November 19, 2012

I received a request for info a while back that I thought I would share.

Are there service records for the War of 1812. I found my ancestor in the Register of Enlistments. I thought he was in the militia.

First there are compiled military service records for volunteer soldiers (like militia and state troops) if the War Department managed to obtain the muster or payrolls. The index to these compiled miltary service records are found on NARA microfilm and are available on Ancestry.com. Some complied military service records were microfilmed and are now also on Fold3. These are the records that relate to Uriah Blue's Detachment of Chickasaw Indians, Maj. McIntosh's Company of Creek Indians, sailors on Lake Erie and soldiers from the Territory of Mississippi.

There are no compiled military service records for Regular Army personnel. You have to create those on your own. The first step is to find the person on the Register of Enlistments to see what it has to say. From there you should be able to obtain the company and regiment that the person belongs to. From there you go to RG94, Records of the Adjutant Generals Office and the series entries that are in the 90s. These include enlistment papers, medical certificates and personal papers.

In addition to the 90s, as I call them there is one other place you might consult. That is M1856, Discharge Certificates and Miscellaneous Records Relating to the Discharge of Soldiers from the Regular Army, 1792-1815. These six rolls of microfilm are really interesting. The joy for me is the miscellaneous records part. The other joy is the finding aid which is available as a .pdf file through the online microfilm catalog. It is 116 pages of searchable names. There is also information from these records in a section on the Archives.gov website that is called War of 1812 Discharge Certificates.

It is also possible for a person to both be in the militia and the Regular Army, just not at the same time. Many militiamen join the Regular Army during the war. Many researchers fail to recognize that when the militiaman falls off the rolls, he might have joined the Regular Army. Prior to Ancestry putting up the Register of Enlistments this was generally ignored because the registers are a real pain to deal with. Today there is really no excuse.

There are additional resources for War of 1812 research which can be found at:

www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/military/war-of-1812.html

At a minimum, you should read Stuart L. Butler's article on Genealogical Records of the War of 1812.

There is also a list of links to other resources at this URL.

Butler has several books which I use often in my Virginia research in the War of 1812. My favorite has been recently revised.

A GUIDE TO VIRGINIA MILITIA UNITS IN THE WAR OF 1812 Stuart Lee Butler, second edition, revised and expanded. 8 x 10,2011, xvi, 270 pages, index, maps, photos. When this volume first was
published in 1988, it quickly became a definitive study on the role
played by the Virginia militia in defense of both the state and the
nation in the Anglo-British conflict.
The author of the volume spent his career with the National Archives and
Records Administration in the Old military and Civil Branch Records,
where he specialized in early American military records. Since his
retirement, Mr. Butler has continued his research in the area of the War
of 1812, and with the upcoming bicentennial of the conflict, the
product of this expanded research is presented in this new work. The
primary sources of information for this enlarged volume
are found among the massive holdings of the National Archives and
Records Administration in
Washington, DC. In addition, materials have been drawn from numerous
other state and local
archival collections to present a balanced, scholarly account of the
Virginia militia and its role
in this war. This book is as complete a guide to the militia units
raised in Virginia as records permit. The book is
divided into three parts: Part I describes the organization of the
Virginia militia, i.e., its
regiments, battalions, and companies, and explains in what manner it
was to be called up
during an emergency. Part II frames an expanded history of the role
played by the Virginia militia during
this conflict. Part III, the largest portion, is a county-by-county
listing of the units, with the
naming of the regimental commanders, company commanders, and the known
action and movements of the unit during the war. The
book includes the name of the company or unit commander, not every
soldier who served
within that unit. Researchers who have secured copies of CMSRs
[compiled military service
records] from the National Archives or other sources will be able to
determine the unit in which a
soldier served, where and when that unit operated, and, in most
instances, ascertain the soldier's
county of origin. A complete index of unit commanders completes this
standard reference work. What is presented here is a distillation of a
life's research by the premier scholar in the field of the War of 1812. [Gtvm2] $30.00

VIRGINIA SOLDIERS IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY, 1800-1815
compiled by Stuart Lee Butler.
1986, paper, 188 pages, introduction, index. This volume contains the abstracted service
records
of 5,193 Virginians who enlisted in the regular United States army during the period
1800-1815.
Material is taken from the Register of Enlistments now in the custody of the National
Archives.
The list contains, wherever possible: full name; unit to which he was assigned; occupation
prior to
enlistment; county of birth; age; place and date of enlistment, and status at the end of his term
of
services (i.e., date and place of discharge, desertion, death, or other record. This book will
become a major reference tool for genealogists in this period of Virginia history. Many of the
pioneer families in the mid-west were descended from these cashiered soldiers at the end of
the
war.[Vsus] $17.00

[I posted this on my As Craig Sees It Blog, but I thought it needed to be here also; hope you don't mind]

I just spent a week in the National Archives as a tour leader for the
National Genealogical Society First Annual (at least I hope it is an
annual event) D.C. Research Tour.

I have to tell you that I had a blast. Twenty-four people all anxious to
learn more about records in the National Archives. What more could I
guy like me ask for?

It was so much fun that I thought I would do it again. Only this time as
a Heritage Books tour. And in such a way that it would not conflict
with the 2nd Annual National Genealogical Society D.C. Research Trip.

One of the problems with the D.C. trip, and I am not being critical, is
that orientation to the tour occurred the night before the first visit
to NARA. I think that can be solved by using a GoToMeeting format and
having orientation a week or so before the event so there is time to let
it rest and have time to think about it. And then of course have a
quick check closer to the event.

Then my mind wrapped around the possibilities. Why not have about four
lectures spread over the month before the event that dealt with the
theme. So if the theme was Revolutionary War it might look like this:

Orientation
Understanding Revolutionary War Compiled Military Service Records
Understanding Revolutionary War Pensions
Understanding Pension Ledgers, Pension Payments, Last and Final Payments
Understanding Bounty Land
(requires internet connection, headset, and whatever else it takes to
make GoToMeeting work on your end. Sessions will be recorded and
available for download later, maybe provided on a flash drive to participants)

Tour
Three days at the National Archives
Two days at the DAR Library
(meaning that I will be at each one of these places on the appropriate days and available for guidance and consultation)

Hotel and Food on you.
Transportation to and from facilities on you.

Cost: $225

What do you think of the concept?
What themes should be considered?
What facilities should be visited?
What have I forgotten?
Would you go?